1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm a Digimon Analyzer. Find all my work at 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:12,000 MJMUNOZ.COM Get ready for a next level discussion of those monster friends to the boys and girls. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:23,000 Digimon Liberator episode 6 was really cool. It was many parts, I don't remember how many, 4 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,000 I think it was like six or seven parts, that's how long it felt anyway. And while it was 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:34,000 long and I was a little taken aback by how long it was or kind of surprised or I don't 6 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,000 know, maybe slightly overwhelmed by how much it was. Honestly, here's the thing, I'm in 7 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:43,000 a place where I don't have a lot of time right now, so anything longer than like a 15 minute, 8 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:48,000 20 minute thing is like, oh, this is a long way I'm going to do. But I read it over the 9 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,000 course of, I don't know, a good chunk of time and I'm sure glad I did because it was really 10 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,000 good and it was really entertaining and I kept wanting, or I wanted to keep reading 11 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,000 it, it had me hooked for sure. And it was a really good time. I'm glad I didn't read it 12 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,000 week to week because I like having it just all in one go. It's slightly irritating about 13 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:12,000 the recaps that are in the beginning of the separate parts of a single episode, but that's 14 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:20,000 okay. I can totally handle it and it's not a big deal. So I'm content to deal with them, 15 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:27,000 so to speak. And yeah, I just, I really enjoyed this one. It was a lot of fun. I liked that 16 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:31,000 the stakes were kind of low. It's just, you know, do they get to be part of the debug 17 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:37,000 team or not? And you know, if he loses, it isn't, if Shoto loses, it isn't the fate of 18 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,000 the world at stake or anything like that. Although I guess if it ends up being that 19 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:47,000 the fate of the world is something that comes, that becomes the stakes of the debug team 20 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:52,000 and everything, then him losing here could have ultimately tipped the scales. But I mean, 21 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,000 I'm saying for this individual story, it's not what's going on and or this individual 22 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:05,000 section of the story. And I kind of hesitate to say a story because it's a little silly 23 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,000 to say it's, well, it's not silly to say it's a story. There is definitely a story going 24 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:16,000 on here, but it seems to be like a lot smaller personal story for now. And these battles 25 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:24,000 go on for so long and they take such a while to play out and accomplish that it makes the 26 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,000 story feel like it's going really slowly, even though everything's really action packed 27 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:35,000 as you go along. And I think I like that balance. I think I prefer the storytelling to be working 28 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:42,000 that way because the story is unrolling very slowly. But what we're getting instead of 29 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:48,000 plot, I guess, is a lot of character and we're getting a lot of fun and interesting dynamics 30 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:54,000 and we're getting tension and getting to see people in tight spaces. She's always been 31 00:02:54,000 --> 00:03:00,000 in a lot of tight places, tight spaces before, but it's always gotten out of them. Sorry, 32 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:08,000 I recently marathoned Yu-Gi-Oh! the first five seasons or whatever, the first Yu-Gi-Oh! 33 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:15,000 the monsters anime and they sure say, she's always been in a lot of tight spaces before 34 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,000 a lot. It's very funny. Or Yu-Gi, a lot of tight spaces is what they talk about. And 35 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:26,000 I mean, that's what it is. It's a tense set up with this children's card game that they're 36 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:33,000 playing and the stakes kind of aren't real. It's kind of fake. It's kind of all nonsense, 37 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:40,000 but what's going on personally for the people is fun and cool and interesting. And I like 38 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:45,000 the fact that through this conflict in this chapter or episode six, we get to see the 39 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:50,000 character of Shoto. He's advanced, he's grown, he's become more bold, he's become more daring. 40 00:03:50,000 --> 00:04:01,000 He's lost his, excuse me, he's lost his issue where he can't function properly under the 41 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:07,000 conditions of being in the game, of seeing stuff play out in Lacuna. Instead of Lacuna 42 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:12,000 offering a challenge for him, it's now something that he's become acclimated to, both from 43 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,000 spending about three months in there and then also spending that, I think a two week period 44 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:22,000 of the maintenance period where he and your girl Arisa were going at it in the card game 45 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:27,000 over and over and over again. They're practicing really, really hard to do their best. And 46 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:33,000 some combination of him, well, some combination of factors got him to the point, got Shoto 47 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:44,000 to the point where he was feeling at the top of his game inside of Lacuna and was able 48 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:49,000 to play Digimon Liberator to the best of his ability. And it turns out his ability is pretty 49 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:58,000 good because I don't think that Yao, Yao? Yao? Sorry. I don't think that Yao is supposed 50 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,000 to be a pushover. She's definitely not. She definitely presents a lot of interesting challenges 51 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,000 to him through this, these new Digimon that he's never seen before and these crazy abilities, 52 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:16,000 I think, that are so many unique to these guys and to her own Tamer card or whatever, 53 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:20,000 which I find that to be a whole interesting thing. They really offer some amazing challenges 54 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:25,000 to him, but he gets what's going on and he rolls with it. And instead of shutting down 55 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:32,000 of the challenge, he rises to the occasion and he ends up pulling out a victory against 56 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:38,000 her through some desperate moves and some well-planned things. And it's also possible 57 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,000 that Yao was kind of going easy on him and giving him openings because perhaps she's 58 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:47,000 just that skilled of a player and she figured if I can set things up like this, then that 59 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:51,000 gives him an opportunity for a win, but he has to be clever enough and sharp enough to 60 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:57,000 pick up on it. And I think that's interesting to speculate about. I also think it's interesting 61 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:04,000 to note that he was unable to use the Fogmon for so long and he had this whole strategy 62 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:13,000 that he was able to come up with using medieval Gallantmon, who looks amazing. And yeah, it 63 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:20,000 was really cool. So I don't fully understand the rules of the card game and the manga is 64 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:26,000 not doing, or the webtoon is not doing the job of really teaching me how it's played, 65 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:33,000 but I'm getting more familiar with it as things go on. And it's interesting to see what exactly 66 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:40,000 can be done. I still don't fully understand the security checks, but I'm getting like, 67 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:47,000 there's the breeding zone, there's the battle zone, and there's on summoning effects or 68 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:51,000 on digivolving effects and different things like that. Also these inherited effects, which 69 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:57,000 is, I guess, the effect passes from one Digimon to the next one, you're, I think, digivolving. 70 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:03,000 So again, I'm still trying to figure it all out and it's working, you know, more or less, 71 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:08,000 but I don't need to fully understand it in order to see some of the bigger plays or some 72 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,000 of the bigger things that are going on and really be excited by them because I can see, 73 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:17,000 oh yeah, he's coming from behind and it's simple showing the security barriers really 74 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,000 makes it obvious that, okay, this guy's got one, he has one left. She has two attacks 75 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:26,000 probably, or she's got two Digimon on the field. If she lands an attack with both of 76 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:31,000 them, she's dead. And when somehow he's able to stop her two Digimon from attacking, or 77 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:36,000 even just one of them, I can see, okay, so that's turning things around for him and he's 78 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:46,000 getting, whoa, he's getting to do something interesting. So I'm scrolling through on my 79 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:53,000 desktop here and it says Murakami Hisashi as the artist of the Digimon, like the tamer 80 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:59,000 card that Shoto has of himself. And I need to look into that because it even says like 81 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:04,000 Bandai, Made in Japan, like Toei Animation. So like it has like actual card information 82 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:12,000 on it. And I wonder if this Murakami Hisashi is the main Digimon artist for the card game, 83 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:19,000 or if like he's secretly the artist for this webtoon or what the deal is there. Interesting. 84 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Anyway, so yeah, like I said, I don't know the rules yet, but I'm still following along 85 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:30,000 because it's being portrayed in such a way that it makes sense. And it's really cool. 86 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,000 And I like just, I like how dramatic it is. And I like how cool it is. And I like how 87 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:41,000 they're able to ratchet up the tension and have me feel the ups and downs and the drama 88 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:48,000 and the tension in the story itself or in the battle. And that's like that in and of 89 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:55,000 itself is an achievement, I would say. And I find it really impressive. Also, I have 90 00:08:55,000 --> 00:09:02,000 no issue with the fact that, that like, it sounds like I'm complaining a little bit that 91 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:07,000 I'm having to wait for these to be out in a batch so I can read a single final, a single 92 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,000 episode all in one go. I'm not complaining about that. I understand it takes the artist 93 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:15,000 and the writer time to do their thing. And I'm fine with that. It's just, I prefer to 94 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:24,000 consume it all. You know, I take the story all in at one time. What was I going to say? 95 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:29,000 I really love the show that has all these wind, or wind and bird and air type Digimon. 96 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:39,000 That makes me happy. Just as an aside. Let me see. Yeah. I mean, it was an exciting go. 97 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:46,000 I thought like medieval Gallantmon is amazing. I'll talk about him more though on some shorts. 98 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:53,000 And there's some other cool visual things that are going on here. It was nice to be 99 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:58,000 a fan service for some people who are into that with the beach thing. And I like the 100 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,000 fact that I do like that logistically, like they wanted to have the battle where nobody 101 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:09,000 could see it and where they were in private. And there's some watch tower, high tower, 102 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:14,000 sea tower, lighthouse. There was a lighthouse where they were battling, but you got to see 103 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:19,000 some beach babes. I'm sure that was just an excuse for that. And anyway, yeah, it was, 104 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:25,000 I mean, it was a really cool, really cool story and a really cool battle. And you know, 105 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,000 we're not progressing the story yet, but we do get this interesting moment at the end 106 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:33,000 of it where we learned that Owen Dreadnought and Owen, Owen Dreadnought, whatever. I don't 107 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,000 know if Dreadnought is supposed to be his actual last name or it's his gamertag or what 108 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:44,000 it is, but he was a neighbor of Shoto when they were both younger and they used to play 109 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,000 the Digimon card game together. And he basically told Shoto that because he doesn't have the 110 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:54,000 killer instinct for Digimon or whatever for Digimon that he like doesn't want to be his 111 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:59,000 friend and he doesn't want to hang out with him anymore. And that was kind of interesting. 112 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:04,000 But yeah, he's like, he's got to beef with this guy because he's not serious and Owen 113 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,000 is so serious and he's going to take this seriously and treat it like a real thing, 114 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:14,000 not like, you know, some sort of kids game. And that's, you know, pretty interesting. 115 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:19,000 Like it shows, you know, his character a little bit. We get some more insight into him and 116 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:23,000 understand a little bit more what he's like. And that's good, obviously, for, you know, 117 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:28,000 helping you understand the character in the story. And I like that. I don't know what 118 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:32,000 it means, but I now get his motivation. I know who the he is that he was talking about. 119 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:37,000 He wants to show him that he's good enough and that he's grown and that he has the skill 120 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,000 now and he wants to prove it to him. And he's like, oh, this is my answer. I'm going to 121 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,000 show him my answer when he starts the battle. I'm pretty sure as he's like pretty deep in 122 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:49,000 the battle in the thick of it when he's in a real tight place. And yeah, that was cool. 123 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:55,000 Also, like the introduce this new mechanic of decode where Yao is able to when one of 124 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,000 her Digimon get suspended or destroyed or whatever, she's able to pull automatically 125 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:04,000 pull in one of the Digimon that's in its evolution line that she had played because I know Digimon 126 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:11,000 has like kind of different evolution lines. And that's pretty cool. And I like what she 127 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,000 that like she was able to do that. I like that it was a surprise to them. I like that 128 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,000 they're learning about the game as we're learning about the game. That's all really cool. And 129 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,000 yeah, I'm really enjoying this as you know, webtoon this manga, whatever this Digimon 130 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,000 story, it's super interesting, even though we're not getting a lot of deep story, we're 131 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:29,000 getting a lot of great character work going on a lot of great character interactions and 132 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:34,000 a lot of exciting and dynamic things happening, even if we don't have a story fully evolving. 133 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:38,000 So it'll be interesting to see how long this runs. And it'll be interesting to see what 134 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:43,000 the story really is behind all this. But I kind of don't care because I'm being so well 135 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,000 entertained by it. And maybe the debug novel will be a little more clear on a story. But 136 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,000 maybe I will dislike it because it'll be less about battles and more. Well, I mean, we'll 137 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:55,000 see. We'll see. I'm going to be getting into that next week, actually. And that should 138 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:59,000 be pretty interesting. Also, I'll let you know when I start talking about other manga, 139 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:03,000 I'm going to be talking about other manga on my other channel, which you can find everything 140 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:08,000 linked that I do on MJMWinters.com, but it'll be on fortress fiction. I'm going to be talking 141 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:16,000 about manga like the Akira. Akira Himekawa, I believe, is the Legend of Zelda author who 142 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:21,000 just finished The Twilight Princess, like 11 or 12 volume issue that you can get through 143 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:27,000 Viz. That was like in 2024, 2023 ended. I think it was early 2024, late 2023, something 144 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:33,000 like that. Anyway, 11 or 12 volume Twilight Princess is done now and fully available in 145 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:40,000 English. Akira Himekawa, I believe is the name, is a couple of ladies who do that and 146 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:47,000 they started a new manga that's a Viz exclusive. It's called Kamuto and it's about this human 147 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:54,000 dragon in this world of bestial demi humans who are like dragon guys, wolf guys, leopard 148 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,000 ladies, and all these different, you know, half animal, half being like a furry kind 149 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:02,000 of thing in this interesting fantasy world, which eventually becomes our world, I guess, 150 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:08,000 as time goes on. So almost like a Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, becomes Earth 151 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,000 type of deal. And it's really, I've only read chapter 1.1, I guess 1.2 is a whole 152 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:19,000 another length of chapter. But I'm really excited about that story. It looks like it 153 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:23,000 could be an amazing epic and it looks really cool. And I'm talking about that on my other 154 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,000 channel. I'll be talking about that in other manga and other comics as well. And I'm going 155 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,000 to be stepping up my production as well as also pushing myself to push myself harder 156 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:35,000 to finish my books and get them out there. And I'll let you know that all that at another 157 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,000 time. 158 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,000 I hope you enjoyed that. Please remember to like, share and subscribe. I invite you to 159 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:44,000 comment, ask questions and share your thoughts with me. It's always more fun when you're 160 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:49,000 part of the conversation. Until next time, shatter despair apart and show me your brave 161 00:14:49,000 --> 00:15:04,000 side. Visit MJMunoz.com for more of my work and help me build up the Fortress fiction.